Doctor who had identity stolen found in UK

The doctor whose identity was allegedly stolen by a man who then worked in the NSW health system for more than a decade is reportedly "distressed and shocked" by the case.

Shyam Acharya posed as Indian doctor Sarang Chitale to dupe Australian authorities and spent 11 years working in Sydney and on the NSW Central Coast at Manly, Hornsby, Gosford and Wyong hospitals.

He is on the run and believed by authorities to have fled overseas.

The real Dr Chitale is a respected specialist practising north of Manchester in the United Kingdom, News Corp Australia reported on Friday.

Dr Chitale's wife, speaking from their home in Warrington said the matter was "quite distressing and shocking" and her husband had been advised not to comment during the ongoing investigation.

NSW Health is aware of the News Corp report but referred inquiries to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency who, in turn, said it couldn't comment because the matter was before the courts.

Roxanne Holmes, who told the Seven Network she was treated by Acharya six times, said she complained about him after he refused to give her pain medication.

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"A normal doctor shouldn't treat a patient like that and I was horrified," Ms Holmes said of learning Acharya had been charged.

The Australian Federal Police on Friday said they were contacted by AHPRA in relation to possible criminal charges in January but subsequently "determined state police and other commonwealth agencies were best placed to consider these aspects".

Acharya first came to Australia on a tourist visa in 2002 before leaving the country and then allegedly forging documents to get a job with NSW Health and travelling back to Australia on a fake passport.

More recently, he was also able to get Australian citizenship.

A doctor who worked with Acharya as a junior doctor at Gosford Hospital remembers him as being "aggressive and defensive" at work, particularly if his medical decisions were questioned.

The doctor, who asked to remain anonymous, told the ABC he spent several months working with the alleged fraudster in the hospital's emergency department.

"There were at least five or six other doctors that were convinced that he was pretty shabby, that his medicine was unsavoury and that patients that he tried to hand over were not worked up very well," he said.

Authorities are now trying to track Acharya down to face a Sydney court on charges of posing as a doctor.

The court case against Acharya - which could result in him being fined $30,000 - will not deal with how he was allegedly able to enter and leave Australia or obtain citizenship in the name of the doctor.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has backed a call by his NSW counterpart, Brad Hazzard, for legislative change to widen the potential penalties to include jail time.